The Marcus Curtius Throwing Himself into the Chasm statue in the Borghese Gallery is a composite work featuring a 1st–2nd century AD Roman marble horse and a 1618–1619 rider carved by Pietro Bernini. [1, 2]

No, it is not included in the classic text Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500–1900 by Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny (which you likely referred to as Petty lure of the antique). The book catalogs highly replicated, purely ancient "canonical" statues, whereas this piece is a Baroque hybrid "integrative restoration". [1, 2, 3]

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Provenance of the Sculpture

The statue is a pastiche, meaning its history is split between its ancient and early modern components: [1]

• The Ancient Horse (1st–2nd Century AD): The horse torso and head are ancient Roman relics. Based on the chisel and drill work on the mane, archaeologists date the carving to between the late Augustan and early Antonine eras. It was unearthed during an archaeological excavation in Rome during the early 17th century. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• The Baroque Addition (1618–1619): Cardinal Scipione Borghese acquired the damaged ancient horse fragment. Rather than leaving it as a fragment, he commissioned Pietro Bernini (the father of Gian Lorenzo Bernini) to perform an "integrative restoration". Pietro carved the rider, Marcus Curtius, heavily modifying the horse’s positioning to look like it was leaping downwards. [1, 2, 3]
• Display History:
  • 1620s–1770s: The completed sculpture was originally built high into the exterior façade of the Casino of the Villa Borghese, set against a relief background to make it look as if the horse was leaping from a cliff.
  • Late 18th Century: During the massive neoclassical renovation of the villa overseen by architect Antonio Asprucci for Prince Marcantonio IV Borghese, the statue was brought inside. It was placed in its current, highly prominent location on the ceiling/wall framing of the Salone (Entrance Hall), where it remains today. [1, 2, 3, 4]

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Why it is Omitted from Taste and the Antique

The landmark book Taste and the Antique specifically tracks 95 world-renowned ancient sculptures that formed the backbone of European taste, art education, and Grand Tour replication. The Marcus Curtius group was excluded for several reasons: [1, 2]

• It is a Heavy Baroque Hybrid: Because a massive portion of the statue—the entire narrative hero—was carved in 1618 by a modern master, it was classified more as a Baroque artwork than a pure antiquarian benchmark. [1]
• Lack of Historical Copies: The book focuses on statues that were widely copied in bronze, plaster, and marble for European palaces. The Marcus Curtius was mostly famous as a fixture of the Borghese estate rather than an internationally duplicated model. [1]

If you are researching other pieces in the Borghese Collection that are featured in Taste and the Antique, you might want to look into the Borghese Gladiator or the Borghese Hermaphroditus (both of which were later sold to Napoleon and moved to the Louvre). [1, 2]

Would you like to explore other hybrid restorations from the Borghese collection, or perhaps learn more about the specific pieces that did make it into Haskell and Penny's book?